Collaborative Insight July 2018 - ISSUE 46

Collaboration in the Digital Economy

Imperial College, London

12th July 2018
Sponsored by Leidos

The Digital Economy event held at Imperial College in July brought together thought leaders looking at the next evolution of digital developments and the key role of collaboration. Our grateful thanks to Leidos who sponsored this event. We were particularly grateful for the support from their parent company whose Chairman and Chief Executive Roger Krone and CEO Matt Wiles joined us on the day. The event was opened by Lord Evans in his inimitable fashion.

Roger Krone, Leidos

Matt Wiles, Leidos

Roger Krone and Matt Wiles gave an overview of Leidos' History, now approaching 50 years, before handing over to Angie Heise, Civil Group President.

Angie Heise, Leidos

Angie gave us a perspective of working across 7 continents and into Space which she illustrated with three programmes. The first two supporting world class science to further the discovery of earth, space, biology, amongst other areas. Leidos activities enabling the science with planning, logistics, equipment, materials, food, clothing, tools, etc. for the scientist/astronaut to live and work in the remote laboratories of the Antarctic continent and the Space Station.

Leidos handles all logistics for the U.S. Antarctic Programme, including the operation and maintenance of 800,000 square feet of buildings at McMurdo Station, Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, and Palmer Station, procurement and supply chain management of all food and supplies, operational support for science programs, operation of research vessels, on-site facilities engineering and construction, and transportation to and from the ice. Leidos is the prime contractor for the Cargo Mission Contract with NASA. In this programme, they manage the supply chain and ultimately provide the on-orbit researchers, or astronauts, with provisions from clothing to IVA tools for repairs, and other support equipment, and if problems arise they come up with solutions keep the laboratory functioning or ensure the science is delivered safely.

The third case was the MOD Defence Fulfilment Centre where Leidos is responsible for the procurement, inventory management and delivery of commodity items including food, medical and general stores, clothing, oils, lubricants and gases, the storage of non-explosive inventory. She gave an example of how they work together to fulfil some demanding requests on our LCST programme focusing on a humanitarian effort transporting supplies across 3 continents to help set up a field hospital.

Andy Osborne, CDW

Andy Osborne, CDW, gave us a perspective of how digital connectivity can support organisations by looking at Unified Workspace. He use the comparisons of a senior executive's day when access to people and documents are restricted by limited Wi-Fi and how this changes when fully connected and how this provides more balanced work space.

Andrew Jones, Altran/IRM

Cyber Security and the Internet of Things (IOT) provide the theme for Andrew Jones, Altran/IRM's presentation and The CONVERGENCE of IT, OT and the EMERGENCE of IOT. Cyber transformation has matured and the risk with it. As more and more of our activities overlap with technology so we face challenges to ensure we understand the implications and potential risks involved. He highlighted the different players and used a modern automobile as examples of the number of external interfaces which can be attacked.

Kirsty Kelly, Guide Dogs

Guide Dogs' Kirsty Kelly's presentation featured the developments of' From Cities Unlocked to Soundscape and beyond'. She outlined the development work which started with Microsoft but has now led to a significant development that in the future will be not only valuable for those with sight issues but has a much broader application for our cities of the future. From an Initial concept the philosophy had changed to adaptive approaches rather than simplified reactive models creating physical and virtual accessibility.

Phil Siveter, Nokia

Nokia's Phil Siveter highlighted the history of Nokia from rubber boots to a technology company and whilst most would recognise the Mobile phone it is no longer a key part of their operations. He focused on Dramatic shifts in technology will impact our daily lives… how businesses work and connect with customers, and how industries and public services run. Nokia is not only at the heart of this massive technology disruption, and how Nokia are driving and shaping it addressing six global megatrends are driving extreme innovation in how networks are designed, deployed, managed, and utilised:

1. Network, compute and storage: broadband everywhere: 2. Internet of Things: more than a trillion connected sensors will drive huge benefits for both individuals and businesses. 3. Augmented intelligence: new tools will assist us in decision making. 4. Human and machine interaction: virtual and augmented reality, new interfaces based on voice and gestures, implantable chips, and "smart" things of many kinds - such as clothing will reshape how we interact with machines, just as touch screens did in the past. 5. Social and trust economics: the sharing economy will continue to expand making trust and security essential. 6. Digitalisation and ecosystems: businesses will continue to digitise their operations wherever possible.

The networks of today simply cannot meet the performance requirements of the future, and a transformation. It will involve significant new technology demands - intelligent, adaptive, and with security deeply and dynamically embedded. Access will be on a massive scale: ultra-local, converged, and with imperceptible latency. Creating this will require many breakthroughs - of technologies and of network architectures.

Sam Kissack, WYG

Sam Kissack, WYG, outlined how things where changing within WYG a global consultancy and the impact of Collaboration in the Built Environment. The challenges and considerations which would impact including Legal requirements, Data security, Trust, Pricing models, Standardisation of technology, Implementing future technologies with an industry traditionally slow to change and increased threat from globalisation. The presentation was supported by case studies of how technology was not only changing the perspectives of design but also how this was amplifying the need for collaboration.

Miguel San Roman, Minsait/Indra

The final presentation was focused on unleashing the path towards a circular and collaborative future. Miguel San Roman, Minsait/Indra, used an Indra example of how they are addressing waste management. Minsait has developed a City Challenge Framework structured in 4 areas and 20 challenges: Social Challenges: To achieve living spaces with high quality of life standards, regardless of cultural, generational or income conditions. Economic challenges: Promote economic specialization and innovation that attracts and retains human capital, efficient use of public resources and budget. Urbanistic challenges: accessible to everyone, digital connectivity is guaranteed. Environmental challenges: In order to achieve a circular economy. Minsait in their opinion, 10 challenges can be addressed using technology.